Help needed, please: M4 Skins Auto Converter For G 2 Males

I installed Michael 4 for G2M and Michael 4 Skins Auto Converter For Genesis 2 Males. The converter works fine with clothes, but I didn't find out how to use it on skins. Any time I try to apply a Michael 4 skin to Genesia 2 Male (M4 shaped or not) by double-clicking the skin mat, nothing happens. If I go to the G2M Materials and click 'Set Michael 4 UV', the figure looks very strange. Maybe someone can tell me what to do with this converter... Thank you!

Comments

Same problem as you, was researching this.
I can answer one part.
When you select Michael 4 as the uv's, it already has M6 texture applied.
So it is taking the M6 texture off ( you can adjust back by reselection M6 as the UV)
Cannot answer why new m4 skins don't work.
If I find out before there is an answer will advise.
I also have a lot of M4 skins.
Luck

Got it, I thinkhttp://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/33197/
I am not usually in the position of helping anyone so forgive me
Where we might have been wrong was assuming that the convertor converts the jpeg maps from
m4 to m6. What it does is convert a .png file from m4 to m6.
Now.
Load Genesis 2 Male into DAZ, with the figure selected convert the uvs to m4 you already know
how to do that because as you mentioned your existing textures (m6) appeared off.
Now go to Genesis 2 male script and select the convertor.
A brief pause here.
The folders for my m4 files are all located in separate Runtime folders.
inside my folders there are a few sections, Textures, Geometries. etc and .....Librarys.

Where we were making the mistake,probably. was trying to load Jpegs from the texture folder.

Go to the library folder and look for the M4 name of which you wish to convert look for a png file
It should read something like Kenny mat complete
It is this file that is converted.
My thanks to Mari at forum mentioned.
Hope this helps

I just want to collect what you have said in these posts into a single entry that explains how to use both Michael 4 for Genesis 2 Male and the M4 Skins Autoconverter from start to finish. To clarify, the M4 Skins Autoconverter does not convert the skins themselves to new uvs, it converts the skin presets (.cr2, .mc6, .dsa, etc.) to fit the current figure and ready to save as a .duf.

1. Load Genesis 2 Male. He will load with the default skin and have Base Male as his UVs.

2. If the M4 texture preset you want to use is already in .DUF format, you simply need to click the preset and it will apply the M4 skin to Genesis 2 Male. The .duf preset used may or may not apply the M4 uvs when clicked. If it does, then you are all set. If it does not, use the Set M4 UVs preset located in your Scripts folder (also located in Materials/Masculine/Michael 4 for Genesis 2 Male) or set the UVs manually by selecting the surfaces in the Surface Pane and apply Michael 4 from the UV dropdown list.

3. If the M4 texture preset you want to use is NOT in .DUF format (such as .pz2, .dsa, .ds, .mc6) it will not be directly applied to Genesis 2 Male. Clicking one of these presets will do nothing because they do not contain the correct placement information to change the surfaces with the M4 textures (same thing with Generation 5 textures that are not saved in .DUF such as Dave for M5 which has .dsa files)

4. Click the M4 Skins Autoconverter preset located in your Scripts folder (labeled New Surfaces for Old G2M). A window will pop up telling you to Select the MAT file you want to load to G2F (should say G2M). Navigate to the folder containing the .pz2, .mc6, or .dsa that you would like to apply to Genesis 2 Male. For M4 textures, these are usually in one of two places: /Runtime/Libraries/Pose or /Runtime/Libraries/Materials. For M5 textures, they can usually be found in /My Library/People/Genesis/Characters or /My Library/People/Genesis/Materials. You will only see the thumbnail icons in this window. This is to make it easy to see what you are trying to find. Double click on the .png thumbnail of your chosen texture.

5. Autoconverter will apply all the textures included in the chosen preset. In most cases, it will apply the M4 UVs, but if it does not, you can do so by following the steps at the end of #2 above.

6. The final step is to save the newly placed skin to .duf format so you may use it again in the future. You will need to save the presets to your DAZ folder, not in the /Runtime folder where the original files were saved. I have a folder called Converted for G2M that I save all my new conversions to.

7. If you do not own the M4 Skins Autoconverter, you can create these .duf files manually by loading Michael 4 or Genesis 1 into the scene, use your current .pz2, .mc6, etc. presets to apply the skin, then save as .duf. Then open Genesis 2 Male and apply the newly created .duf to him. Using the autoconverter makes it much simpler and more convenient than the manual method, so I do recommend it.

I hope this clears up any confusion about the difference between the two products and how to use them. Mods, please consider linking to this post when the question comes up again.

Because of the failings of DIM, I install items by downloading and copying
and pasting into folders.
There has, of late, been a scarcity of Documentation and Readme to accompany the
product. Nor is there anyplace in DAZ to research.

Since yesterday,have been using and practicing with these tools.
They work fine, and are a tribute to the people who created them.

Would have been better if we did not have to resort to methods like this
to find out how they work.

We, as vendors, are required to provide readme information when submitting our products. There is a section on our submission form for typing the information, which can then be accessed using the info button in DIM. For those who don't use DIM, one should still be able to access the readme online by going to docs.daz3d.com and searching for the item you are looking for. Unlike some other sites, DAZ vendors are not required to put the readme in the downloaded file, although many choose to do this anyway.

Great... and the doc on DAZ for this,
Michael 4 Skins Auto Converter For Genesis 2 Male
is where?
Thank you

This one may have been missed during the slew of M6 products. I know mine was missing the first day, but was restored when I pointed out that it was missing. I'll let DraagonStorm know so she can contact DAZ and get it put up on DAZ Docs

Great information in this this thread. But I work with Poser Pro 2012. Does Slosh's converter help me if I only use Poser? He does list DSON Importer for Poser as compatible software but I want to make sure it works for Poser alone before purchasing.

Great information in this this thread. But I work with Poser Pro 2012. Does Slosh's converter help me if I only use Poser? He does list DSON Importer for Poser as compatible software but I want to make sure it works for Poser alone before purchasing.

No, you need to use DS, as the script only runs there. Also the skins converter is a product by Draagonstorm. Slosh's product is the M4 UV/Clone for Genesis 2 male.

Great information in this this thread. But I work with Poser Pro 2012. Does Slosh's converter help me if I only use Poser? He does list DSON Importer for Poser as compatible software but I want to make sure it works for Poser alone before purchasing.

No, you need to use DS, as the script only runs there.

Boooo :( I have no idea how to use DS and after pulling my hair out for 3 days attempting to get the DSON Importer for Poser to work, I haven't the energy to earn another piece of software.

Great information in this this thread. But I work with Poser Pro 2012. Does Slosh's converter help me if I only use Poser? He does list DSON Importer for Poser as compatible software but I want to make sure it works for Poser alone before purchasing.

No, you need to use DS, as the script only runs there.

Boooo :( I have no idea how to use DS and after pulling my hair out for 3 days attempting to get the DSON Importer for Poser to work, I haven't the energy to earn another piece of software.

Thank you for helping me save $11 :)

It's really not that hard to set it up. I can use both softwares to get what I need to get done ;)

Slosh, thanks for commenting on your product. I have already taken many of my M4 headshapes, custom morphs, etc and transferred them to first Genesis figures. Nice to see WERTS celebrity characters in Genesis. Having a Samuel L Jackson head mixed with custom Genesis 1 figures has been a joy.

With your plugin, are we able to save those figures and import them into Gen2?
Said differently, lets say, someone has M4 Hazai character, they save it for DUF compliance, which setting would they set and can that then be imported to Genesis2 via your tools?

If so, good price, good tool, sorry I missed the sale price, but still worth $15.

I've used the M4 Skins Auto Converter to transfer the M4 Elite Rob and Lee textures to M6, and this seems to go fine. I then change the shader from the EHSS to the SubSurface Base shader. Having changed all the surface settings to those of the M6 HD Bjorn texture, something goes awry with the ears, they don't match the rest of the head. I've tried everything I can think of with the shader and it doesn't seem to make any difference. Has something strange happened when the textures were transferred!?

I've posted the Lee render as you notice the ears more. I have downloaded the new version of DS and will install that and reinstall the shader, just in case.

I tried turning off the negative bump and it didn't have any effect. It's definitely a converter issue as I reloaded the texture and just rendered what loaded. You can still see a clear line around the front edge of the ear. I also ran the V4 version of the script and then changed the UV, still the same thing. I loaded and rendered the material as standard and the issue persisted, so it isn't the shader.

The error appears to be in the script itself as I made my own DUF by saving a preset and as you can now see below the texture loads and renders just fine.

good to know, thanks
I am still trying to decide if I want to purchase the converters or go the manual route
I have lots and lots of textures for v4 and but a few for m4

one thing I noticed when going the manual route was that I lost the shader on v6/m6 skins... when I loaded an updated v4/m4 duf skin the surfaces returned to the daz default materials surfaces

I have now figured out, I believe, that it is the elite human surface skin shader and not the AoA SSS shader that is applied to the default v6/m6

Something I would like to know for sure... If the V4/M4 skin pz or whatever file is using the default daz surfaces, does the converter also revert the v6/m6 surfaces to the default daz shader - or is the converter smart enough to keep the v6/m6 shader and just overlay the texture maps?

Until I know this, I think I am going to have to just modify a skin as it is used and not bother with mass conversions

From what I can gather, the G2M has the M5 Philip texture which had the EHSS, M6 and M6 HD load with textures that use the SSS Base shader. G2F has the V5 Bree texture which uses the EHSS and Gia, V6, V6 HD and Josie all use the SSS Base.

The converter does something odd when it loads the textures and I wouldn't use it till Slosh figures out what went wrong and does an update. The clone UV's for V4 and M4 are fine.

From what I can gather, the G2M has the M5 Philip texture which had the EHSS, M6 and M6 HD load with textures that use the SSS Base shader. G2F has the V5 Bree texture which uses the EHSS and Gia, V6, V6 HD and Josie all use the SSS Base.

The converter does something odd when it loads the textures and I wouldn't use it till Slosh figures out what went wrong and does an update. The clone UV's for V4 and M4 are fine.

CHEERS!

Thanks for the info on the different usages on shaders based upon loaded character, that helps.

Even though there is an issue could you please tell me, does an old M4 texture that uses the daz default shader surfaces convert the loaded G2M character to also be the daz default shader surfaces - or - does the converter keep the currently loaded shader surfaces and simply overlay the textures? This answer will determine my final purchase decisions.

A material preset will include the shader used unless told not to on saving - however you can usually reapply the shader you want to use with the ctrl (cmd on Mac) key held down and in the dialogue tell it to ignore maps which will leave the textures in place but with the desired shader and numeric settings.

A material preset will include the shader used unless told not to on saving - however you can usually reapply the shader you want to use with the ctrl (cmd on Mac) key held down and in the dialogue tell it to ignore maps which will leave the textures in place but with the desired shader and numeric settings.

Ok. I know about using the ctrl on loading to keep the current textures and only change the shader... but I was not aware of the option to save the material preset in a way that it would not overwrite a shader.

"A material preset will include the shader used unless told not to on saving "

I just went and tried to save a material preset. I was not given any option that would allow me to save the preset without saving the associated shader. So this means that when I save the duf file from V4 and load it to G2F that the manual process is going to force me to have to use the Ctrl key with the ignore option to reapply either the EHSS or the AoA SSS shader and then set any and all specialized settings. Or am I missing something?

I am trying to determine is this the same thing that happens in the converter process. If I use either the G2F or the G2M converter, am I still going to have to reapply the EHSS or the AoA SSS shaders and set any and all specialized settings contained in the advanced shaders that are not available in the daz default?

Or, will the converter keep the EHSS or the AoA SSS shader, and only replace the texture maps?

There are a lot of settings in the EHSS and the AoA SSS shaders. I am wanting not to have to tweak each and every conversion if I have to reapply the advanced shaders. I am hoping to see that the converter will keep all the existing special settings and all I have to do is let the converter apply the texture and go straight to a renderable figure.

If I still have to manually reapply and tweak the advanced shaders then there is no benefit to the converter in my eyes. This is why I need to know. Otherwise, if I purchase and find that it does not then I will have to go through the trouble of requesting a store refund which I would rather avoid if possible.

If you loaded an M4 Elite texture and didn't touch it, the material preset you save will have the EHSS. If, after you loaded the texture, you decided to use the SSS shader as a replacement for the EHSS and then save the preset then the preset will then have the SSS shader.

Using CTRL double click and choosing ignore means that the texture will be retained but the shader will be replaced by whatever you load. Whatever you load will be what is saved by the material preset.

What you do when you use the converter is to select a file which loads the texture, the texture will have whatever shader the artist gave it. The script converts the file that loads the texture into a DUF, that's all it does. Something has gone awry though as something is messing up the DUF and giving us the issue that I pointed out.

Basically, saving a material preset is us manually doing what the script does